Photo By Sgt. David Scott | Sgt. Bryan Huffman (left), yard noncommissioned officer in charge and a Du Bois, Pa.,...... read more read more
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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq —Two Army mechanics inspect the running lights and wheel bearings of a transport trailer while protected from the Iraqi sun by netting. The scene is punctuated by rock music playing on loudspeakers from a recording in the background.
With or without accompanying music, the work of maintaining hundreds of Army trailers in the Iraqi theater of operations is a daily occurrence at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq.
A daily rhythm of trailers coming in for repairs and preventive maintenance checks and services, in conjunction with the responsible drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq, has kept a segment of the 298th Support Maintenance Company busy at COB Speicher, according to Staff Sgt. Joseph Hammond, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of Maintenance Support Team 1 with the 298th SMC, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and an Altoona, Pa., native.
The 298th SMC, who call themselves the “Reapers,” are part of an Army Reserve unit out of Altoona, Pa. MST 1 is a detachment of the unit and has about 250 personnel, including 14 personnel here at COB Speicher and four personnel at Contingency Operating Base Marez, he said.
The primary mission of MST 1 is to perform preventive maintenance checks and services at COB Speicher on Army trailers used in convoys throughout Iraq. The unit helps keep convoys on the road at a high readiness rate, Hammond said.
“As long as we keep them (the trailers) up and running, all the equipment, the mission will be a success,” he said.
Hammond said the trailers his unit maintains show the wear and tear of many years of constant use in support of most common maintenance repairs often involve the lowest replaceable unit.
“The most common problems involve the wiring harnesses to the lights,” he said.
“When the trailers come in decorated with 20 chemical lights on them, there is a dead giveaway of the problem.”
Hammond said integrating a variety of military occupational specialties into the unit has been a challenge. MST 1 has integrated those unit members whose specialization isn’t maintenance into the unit by giving them hands-on training.
“The 14 [Soldiers] here are doing heavy-wheeled vehicle mechanical repairs,” Hammond said. “There are five or six who have other military occupational specialties who came with us … They are not falling behind. We are showing them the different ways to do repairs. They are picking it right up.”
MST 1 tracks and maintains approximately 250 trailers from its operating location at COB Speicher. The unit conducts both annual and semi-annual repairs on the trailers under its purview, he said.
“We have a list on the board in our office,” Hammond said. “Roughly every six months to every 12 months, depending on the service rotation, we either do a full annual service or a semi-annual service where we fix what we need.”
Hammond said he was pleased with the effort and hard work of MST 1. His team of mechanics and repair specialists made him look good.
“They are up here, 13 of them, doing everything they can and more to make sure all these trailers and our missions are successful,” he said. “Without them, I wouldn’t have a job.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Sommer, maintenance operations officer with the 298th SMC and an Altoona, Pa., native, visited the MST 1 worksite July 20 at COB Speicher.
He said the unit’s modularity was a particular point of emphasis for his visit.
“We have the capabilities to send small teams out to many locations and bases which reduce the need for excess maintenance personnel, especially in-house or internal maintenance elements at the company level,” Sommer said. “Once you cut them (the excess personnel) out of the unit, then you will be able to draw down the unit size, and then you can reduce the troop size.”
“From the movement of parts to the movement of support elements, almost everybody needs wheels,” he said. “When the vehicles don’t run, it impacts everyone.”
Prior to mobilizing, the company’s roster of shop maintenance personnel was augmented by a small team of arms repair specialists, welders, generator mechanics and heating, ventilation and air conditioning repair specialists, drawn from units around the country.
Sommer said the biggest challenge to the unit was forming a unit from so many different military occupational specialties and from many other states.
Sgt. Bryan Hoffman, yard noncommissioned officer-in-charge with MST 1 and a DuBois, Pa., native, originally came to the unit as a small-arms repair specialist and had to get on-the-job training in order to learn new skills and trades.
“On this deployment, I got tasked out to the MST to work on trailers,” Hoffman said. “I had never worked on trailers before, but I was peered with a bunch of really good mechanics who have been teaching me the right way to do things. They have been teaching me the mechanical side of things. It is not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
“Our unit, being a Reserve unit, is unique because we deploy with people from all over,” Sommer said. “We deployed with 190 people who come from many different places such as Hawaii and Alaska. So, you have approximately 120 people who we met for the first time on the first day of this deployment. As a leader, you tend to worry about how everyone will mesh together. To see everyone acting so civil is just amazing.”
MST 1 performs intermediate level maintenance services at COB Speicher. The level of maintenance is important but the urgency of the maintenance or repair service is even more important, Sommer said.
Sommer said he was impressed by his visit to the MST 1 shop. The unit’s sustained superior performance was commendable.
“It just amazes me with the level of efficiency and proficiency with which we are pushing vehicles and trailers in and out of the maintenance yard,” Sommer said.
During their off-hours back at their living quarters in a refurbished firehouse, members of MST 1 often join together to play video games, specifically “Rock Band.”
Hoffman said playing background music at the shop, which ranges from American rock to an occasional Irish melody, helps to maintain a positive and motivating atmosphere for the unit.
“It (the music) kind of breaks up the monotony,” he said. “It makes the day go by much faster. It kind of brings up morale when your favorite song comes on.”
Hoffman said the steady flow of trailers in and out of the MST 1 maintenance yard doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. The unit maintains a steady pace in order to keep up with the flow.
“We normally try to complete our services on two to three trailers per day,” he said. “With 250 trailers on our board, we have to keep up a pretty good pace to get them all serviced within a particular time period.”
Hoffman said playing recordings of contemporary American rock in the background had perhaps the most impact on his unit’s performance in the maintenance shop.
“Especially when you get a good rock song, it gets everyone excited,” Hoffman said.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2010 14:07 |
| Story ID: | 53406 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 286 |
| Downloads: | 199 |
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